SS General

Legion of the Damned #4

by Sven Hassel, Giovanna Rosselli (Traslator)

The great Stalingrad novel – written by a German survivor. Sven Hassell and his diminishing band of veterans find themselves plunged into the maelstrom of Stalingrad. Radio Moscow boasts that one German soldier dies every minute as they struggle forward on the front, and when the Russians surround the German 6th Army, it seems they're doomed. But Sven and his friends make a last-ditch attempt to break out, to fight their way across the frozen steppe to freedom. They're a fanatical SS general.

Genres: War, Fiction, Historical Fiction, World War II, Military Fiction, Action, Danish

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Hassel served in the Danish merchant navy till 1937, when he moved to Germany to join the army. He served with the second Panzer Division stationed at Eisenach and in 1939 was a tank driver during the invasion of Poland. A year later he attempted to escape because of being mentally exhausted. He was transferred to a Sonderabteilung, a penal unit manned by criminals and dissidents. He served with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment and later the 11th and 27th Panzer Regiments (6th Panzer Division) on all fronts except North Africa and was wounded several times. Eventually he reached the rank of lieutenant and received an Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class. He surrendered to Soviet troops in Berlin in 1945 and spent the following years in various POW camps. He began to write his first book Legion of the Damned while he was interned. He was released in 1949, and was planning to join the French Foreign Legion when he met Dorthe Jensen. They got married in 1951. He went to work in a car factory. In 1957 Sven Hassel suffered from an attack of a sickness caught during the war and was paralyzed for almost two years. After recovery, he began to write more books.

See also Sven Hazel

Reviews

[Razvan Banciu · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I've said before , Mr. Hassel's books are like brothers in a family, there are quite a few differences between them. So, for a young reader as myself, the final impression is given by the degree of sadness included. And, of course, by the happy end.
This one is about an escape from Stalingrad, one of the toughest battles of WWII and a pivotal point for the German Army. History, fiction and a decent dose of humor are melting together in quite a good book.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had limped along with my well-thumbed copy of 'Comrades Of War' for years before one day, in a used book store in Burbank, I encountered this and several other Sven Hassel novels in the dusty, cluttered shelves. Until the internet Hassel's books were a lucky find. This was a lucky find. It places the gang, Sven, Tiny, the Legionaire, Porta, the Old Man and the rest in Stalingrad. They're surrounded. They're starving. They've been ordered not to retreat. Bad scene. They are rescued by an SS General (hence the title) who leads a column of ragged soldiers across the frozen steppes, through the Russian Army to finally reunite with the Wehrmacht which has retreated far to the west. In all these books, Hassel makes you feel like you are marching along with the gang to their inevitable deaths, which never seem to happen to the main characters, although the incidental ones get blow to bits or executed by the military police, who are a constant enemy presence in these books. Exciting, page turning, brutal, violent. Great.

[David Ioan · Rating 4 out of 5]

SS General is a great novel written by Sven Hassel, a Danish soldier who fought in The 27th Penal Panzer Regiment. This book describes the atrocities in Stalingrad during WW2.

The plot is a bit fictional (from what I know, Waffen-SS didn't participate in the battle of Stalingrad).
Sven and his comrades are trying to escape from the battle, being helped by a SS general.

If you want to read about the complete stupidity of war and the pure incompetence of the generals and higher ups whose decisions mean life or death to the common soldier, this is a must read.

[Yanper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Περιγραφή της ζωής κάποιων Γερμανών στρατιωτών στον Β΄Παγκόσμιο πόλεμο και στην Μάχη τουΣτάλινγκραντ. Δεν μπορώ να πω ότι ήταν και κάτι ιδιαίτερο.

[Mati · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across name Sven Hassel, while reading some review on Leo Kessler´s book and grabbed SS General. The book is written in crispy language with all gruesome of hunger, war, winter and Stalingrad. Group of soldier from penal regiment was stuck in the horrid eastern front and like a miracle they found the way out. General SS who saw no point in fanatical and useless deaths in Stalingrad pulled group of survivors and lead them across the steppe to the safety. The story is very strong and surprising at some points.

[carl theaker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A guilty pleasure - my dad had these books on this shelf for years and I'd
peak at them for some reason they seemed forbidden.

They are a fun read, a kind of WW2 pulp fiction, all from the
perspective of a German penal unit. Wild, realistic, most the time,
and oddly poignant for such a tale.

A lot of controversy surrounds the author, was he a real
soldier in the Wehrmacht? a con-man? Adds to the allure.

[Procyon Lotor]

8th SS-General chapter by chapter: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. The Bridge Story of the SS dealing with the SA in 1934. Section travelling in tanks in the vacinity of Stalingrad. Tiny and Heide have a fight (Heide is dealt with). Contact with T34s. Description of situation in Stalingrad. Incessant rain, mud, mould. Description of recruits. Talk of Italian and Rumanian troops. Mission to blow up Russian bridge. Description of bog/marsh and adventures while crossing it. Bridge sabotage. 2. Journey By Sledge Story of R�hm and Eike. One of the famous chapters. An Australian band even wrote a song inspired by the motorised-sledge ride. Porta and Tiny are 'imprisoned'. Mention of punishments in the German army. Old Un receives a letter from his wife Liselotte. Sledge ride. Landmine in the road. Barcelona's sledge explodes. 3. Porta's Breakfast Himmler and Heydrich. Porta, Tiny and Sven are woken early and told to report for special duties. Porta decides to have breakfast first. Entertaining adventures behind the Russian lines... including the accidental capture of a Russian Lieutenant-General and Colonel. 4. The Battle Of Krasnij Okjabre Heydrich, M�ller and Schellenberg. Mission to knock out Russian bunker. Heide leads the attack in fanatical fashion. Russian boy attempts to adopt Tiny but then gets blown up! Porta is promoted from lance-corporal to corporal. Scheme to obtain vodka to celebrate. Porta's talk with Wilke, the fat, cheating cook. Drinking session. Porta's fat black cat. 5. The Young Lieutenant Heydrich and Himmler. Chat about the situation in Stalingrad. Porta discovers that Sgt Wilke has gone back to Germany... Porta and Tiny try some officer-baiting on Lieutenant Pirch. 6. Farewell To The Colonel Heydrich and Canaris. Hinka is wounded in tank battle. Porta and Sven take him to the airstrip for evacuation. Various adventures on the return journey. 7. Summary Executions Heydrich and Canaris. SS arrive in Stalingrad. Theodor Eike confronts Paulus and others. Eike's progress through Stalingrad. 8. Generals We Have Known� Section playing cards. Gregor tells one of his General stories. Tiny tells a General story of his own. 9. Traitors Hitler's Stalingrad speech. A group of Austrian officers plan a deal with the Russians. Major Russian offensive starts. Tiny, Porta and Sven are cut-off from the section. They find a field hospital. Porta is arrested for eating a dying man's rations. Tiny and Sven spring him from prison. The three are picked up and put with loads of others who are to be shot for desertion. Another escape... 10. Generals' Cake-walk Story of General Hartmann and his underground village. Russians attempt negotiations fo German capitulation. Porta does his own deal... for some porn! German generals plan their own glorious deaths in battle. They march out in full dress uniform and start shooting at the Russians. Russians attack again. Complete chaos. Sven and Gregor are cut-off. 11. Christmas On The Steppe More SS executions. Description of the cold. SS man arrives in the bunker and takes Porta's bed. Tiny deals with him. Arrival of the SS General (this is more than half way through the book by-the-way). He takes command. Anti-tank fighting. JU52s drop 'supplies' (photos of Hitler in fact). T34s attack each day at three in the afternoon. Final retreat. Tiny and Sven are sent back to look for survivors (and to find Porta's camp bed!) 12. Retreat Augsberg and Paulus. The stragglers start their break out/retreat from Stalingrad. Crossing the Steppe. Sven suffers from snow-blindness. In a village the section finds a barrel of Samorchonka. Porta gives us the recipe. Everyone gets stuck into the drinking. Arrival at the Don river. No sign of German lines. Discovery of PIV which still works. Porta drives across the ice. Sven's snow-blindness gets worse. Contact with Russians and running battle. Talk of attrocities. 13. Dinner And Dance With The Kalmucks Eike's 1933 speech to his SS regiment. Arrival at Russian village during snowstorm. Lots of hospitality. Porta excels in Kalmuck etiquette! Progress from river to river with no sign of the front line. Porta tries to persuade the paymaster of the Gro� Deutschland division to set up a brothel when he gets home. More contact with the NKVD. Porta shoots Russians who try to surrender. Sven's snow-blindness gets even worse. Sunglasses are 'found' for him. 14. Prisoners Of The NKVD More about Generaloberst Paulus. Heavy winter weather. Fifty-six days march out of Stalingrad. Some of the Germans attack a Russian town but are taken prisoner. Old Man's section to the rescue. March continues towards the Donetz. Sven and Gregor are sent to scout a wood. They are captured by 'pro-German' partisans (Vlassov Army) and are then re-captured by the Russians! Various adventures in captivity. Escape and journey to the front dressed as NKVD. Crossing the HKL. SS Tigers pick them up. 15. Back In German Lines De-briefing by secret police captain. Sven and Gregor drop the General in the shit. Reunion with the rest of the section. News that all the officers involved in the break-out from Stalingrad have been arrested as deserters. Porta and Sven steal a load of rations. Hitler visits the barracks! Tiny is not impressed. 16. The Train The end of Stalingrad. Waiting at Russian railway station for transport to convalescent centre on the Black Sea. Chaos when train arrives. Porta tells the story of Manfried Katzenmeyer the useless train guard. Further adventures on the train. Arrival at the seaside town rest area. Discovery of nurses. Old Man deals with a bossy sergeant. Sven and Gregor visit the nurses rooms. Departure for the front after a few days 'rest' (Sven and Gregor are more exhausted than when they arrived!) 17. Executions More on the end of Stalingrad and Paulus. The prison at Charkov. Section prepare for firing squad duties. Augsberg turns out to be the victim. Everyone aims to miss. End of Augsberg and the other officers from Stalingrad.

[İlhanCa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kitabın bitişi 2023 Gaziantep merkezli Şubat depremine denk geldi..yorum yapacak hal de kalmadı..sadece kendime not düşüyorum bununla ilgili..

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stalingrad ☠️

[Mark taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book part of a series, I had read previously over 30 years ago, and tells the story of Story of a World War II German unit and the horrors of war as well as the times in between.

The SS General is set around the battle of Stalingrad, covering the time that the unit Sees Stalingrad for the first time, to just after the unit gets back to their own lines. In addition before each chapter is a short quote, and an additional story about the Knight of the Long Knives.


The story is well written with the main individuals in the book each have their own individual personality from Sven Hassel the writer and who’s eyes you see the story through, to the Porta, Tiny and the Legionnaire among others. Each of them have their own personality which allows you to get to know them as individuals so when they are put into danger, you care for them.


When the novel gets into the battles scenes this is where the novel excels with the the destruction and horrors of war, each of the soldiers are not portrayed as heroes, and there are times when each of them seems to reach their limits, to be pulled through by their friends.


If you are into World War II novels which does not glorify war, the Sven Hassel’s novel the SS General is for you.

[David Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any Hassel book is worth reading: a shot of adrenalin after other, lesser military novelists. This one includes two plot lines. Each chapter starts with a vignette of a key point in SS history, starting from the Night of the Long Knives, the event that brought Heinrich Himmler to prominence over Ernst Rohm. The meat of the chapter is our gang's Stalingrad experiences. The famously horrific siege of Stalingrad finished with the complete destruction of the German 6th Army.

These books are driven by character and storytelling, and plot coherence is never a strong point. Even so I thought this one had worse discontinuities than usual. The strengths of the book are the usual Hassel goodness: vivid episodes strung together in an impressionistic chain to form a weirdly compelling overview of this horrific time.

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sven Hassel stories seem to have a mixture of everything. They can be horrific and vile under conditions of a savage conflict. They can also be very funny because his friends are wonderfully portrayed in his first person singular narration. This is pulp war story telling at its best and was very gripping.

The characters are very special and the reader will easily like them all.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hassel shows the toughness of the front line and fanatism that cost lives of thousands. Nice and entertaining. I think the stories about the war especially for teenagers and those have just little information should have similiar form.

[Hans-Petter Sandseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leste den norske utgaven

[Andreas Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

E' un altro libro che non ha né precedenti, né successori e altro non è che una episodio localizzato nel tempo. E' la storia di Stalingrado, dove il gruppo di tedeschi lotta per sopravvivere. Il libro narra di questa battaglia sconsiderata, in cui Hitler noncurante di tutto avrebbe voluto che la Sesta Armata di Paulus avesse combattuto fino all'ultimo uomo. Infatti, tra le solite vicende di ordinaria amministrazione per gli uomini in armi del 27°, si vedono gesti di follia e di sconsideratezza. Alla fine, il generale ( Obergruppenfueher delle SS ) Ausberg ( curioso quanto assomigli per il nome finale, -berg, al vero nome di Hassel, Argberg ), stanco della follia degli altri generali, conduce un numero notevole ( benché irrisorio, sul milione di soldati che compone la Sesta Armata ) fuori dall'accerchiamento per rientrare nel fronte. E' un libro romanzesco che parla di una vicenda di guerra, e denuncia la scelleratezza degli imboscati, dei folli e dei fanatici; ma è anche un libro che colpisce sul serio. Colpisce perché mette a nudo una crudeltà cercata e voluta da entrambe le parti ( è spietata la descrizione dei T-34 che maciullano i superstiti nelle buche, giorno dopo giorno, mentre dagli altoparlanti una musica sempre diversa si diffonde nell'etere ). Ma Hassel ha sempre contraddistinto i suoi lavori per aver messo a nudo la feroce crudeltà di quegli anni, in cui la compassione umana affiorava solamente di fronte ad eventi di importanza maggiore: ad esempio, il colonnello che punisce il basso rango che si arroga diritti dati soltanto dalla disparità momentanea di gradi, eccetera. Per quanto riguarda la storicità, mi suona strano un Paulus così voltagabbana e arzillo, così come l'evento della capitolazione che alle cronache è abbastanza differente da quello presentato. Nel complesso, un libro che raggiunge il punto prefissato da Argberg: denunciare l'assurdità di quel lasso di tempo storico.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Staljingrad, masovna grobnica u kojoj je svakog minuta umirao po jedan nemački vojnik, dok je onaj ludak u Nemačkoj koračao šepureći se i vrištao do iznemoglosti "Borite se do poslednjeg čoveka, do poslednjeg metka!"

Stari nam je rekao da je to ljudsko meso, a pogledavši tu užasnu stvar, odmah sam mu poverovao. Ali Porta, nimalo dirnut ovom pretpostavkom, otkinuo je zalogaj i sažvakao ga, uživajući u njegovom ukusu.
"Kakvo je?" pitao sam radoznalo.
Porta je oblizao usne. "Uopšte nije loše! Pretpostavljam da je posredi general." Okrenuo se i bocnuo Starog u rebra. "Ako je ovo ljudsko meso, prijatelju, onda jedino što mogu da kažem: čuvajte se kad ponovno ogladnim!"

Dobro poznata Staljingradska bitka opisana surovo i bez uljepšavanja. Milioni mladih Nijemaca poslani u sigurnu smrt za ideale par luđaka. Hassel je u ovom djelu iznio sav besmisao rata, kako tokom 2. Svjetskog u Staljingradu, tako i svakog prethodnog i budućeg. Nijedan rat nije nikad nikome donio ništa dobro. Ginu mladići sa svih strana, civili ni krivi ni dužni umiru u najgorim mukama, a samo par kretena se materijalno okoristi od svih tih krvoprolića.

Nevezano za ovu knjigu specifično - zauvijek mi ostaje nejasno kako ljudi pristanu na to. Kako to funkcioniše mozak čovjeka kojem neko da pušku u ruku i kaže idi ubij ono dijete, za mene, za svoju državu... I on to uradi. I misli da je nešto pobijedio...?

[Socrate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sâmbăta de 30 iunie 1934 a fost una din cele mai toride zile cunoscute de Berlin în ultimii ani. Istoria a făcut-o să fie şi una din cele mai sângeroase. Cu mult înainte de răsăritul soarelui, oraşul a fost încercuit de un cordon impenetrabil de trupe; toate căile de acces erau păzite de oamenii generalului Göering şi ale Reichsführerului SS Himmler.

La ora 5 dimineaţa, o uriaşă limuzină Mercedes, neagră, purtând pe parbriz inscripţia „SA Brigadenstandarte“ a fost oprită pe şoseaua dintre Lübeck şi Berlin. Generalul de brigadă care o ocupa a fost smuls de pe locul său şi azvârlit într-o maşină a poliţiei, iar şoferul, Sturmmann SA, Horst Ackermann, invitat să dispară în doi timpi şi trei mişcări. Omul a revenit la Lübeck cu acceleratorul la podea şi a raportat cele petrecute şefului poliţiei locale. La început, acesta a refuzat să creadă; cu fruntea brobonită de sudoare, se învârtea de colo până colo prin birou, ca, finalmente, să-l sune pe vechiul său amic, şeful departamentului judiciar. Ambii făceau parte din SA, încercata gardă a trupelor de şoc naţional-socialiste, dar, ca toţi ofiţerii de poliţie ai celui de al III-lea Reich, cu un an în urmă fuseseră vărsaţi în SS.

[Oscar Espejo Badiola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tengo la sensación que Sven Hassel, según van avanzando las aventuras de los miembros protagonistas del batallón de castigo, va describiéndonos una IIGM más cruda y con más dureza en la narración, si bien algunos de los primeros libros de esta serie me parecieron que no iban en consonancia con lo que tuvo que ser la IIGM, ahora sí que veo crudeza en las historias.
Aquí estamos en Stalingrado, quizás la batalla más dura de toda la IIGM y el autor sí que describe cómo tuvo que ser la vida durante esas batallas, hay dureza, miseria, mucho hambre y maneras poco ortodoxas de quitárselo.
Además están las consignas de los mandos de "ni un paso atrás" y las promesas de suministros, cuando lo único que vale es salvar el pellejo por parte de los dos bandos.
De todas formas, el autos sí que introduce algo de humor en la historia, pero siempre está presente la guerra.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sven Hassell's books seemed to be everywhere as I was growing up and yet in honesty I've never found the need to read one..generally wartime fiction isn't my thing ..too many comics as a kid of the brave Tommy taking on the Hun just rendered the genre to cliche to me.
The slight difference with Hassel is if course this isn't a story about the allies...it's the other side in this yet still we get tales of humanity..comradeship and the horrors of war.
Stalingrad was a grim campaign and I think though fiction this book catches some of what I have read factually about that campaign.
Anyhow this hasn't really converted me to read more WW2 stuff but it was ok...a nice break from my usual reading matter.

[Joanne Mullen]

The author's biography is as much a work of fiction as his novels, as he was actually a petty Danish criminal called Børge Willy Redsted Pedersen who spent most of the war collaborating with the Nazis in Denmark, and never fought the Soviets in Stalingrad or Berlin. He was sentenced for 10 years in 1945 for working with the German Intelligence service and served 4 before re-emerging to write these war novels. They were certainly based on stories he heard from German soldiers but the amount of front line service he saw remains contested. He was exposed as a fraud as long ago as 1963, and spent the rest of his life in Spain.

[Roberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un classicissimo “Sven Hassel”. Tanta azione, bel ritmo, tanti spunti e luoghi comuni sulla seconda guerra mondiale, inframezzi storici romanzati, divisioni siberiane, tribunali volanti delle SS… e tutti i personaggi principali della serie… insomma… proprio quello che uno si può aspettare da un bel libro di Sven Hassel! Intrattenimento assicurato, con qualche spunto interessante!

Nota di redazione. La mia copia, Longanesi, copertina rigida, 5^ edizione, aveva almeno 3 pagine con righe tipograficamente invertite, e mancava completamente di 14 pagine da 256 a 270.

[Mihaela Abrudan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Volum este o cronică a generalilor din armata germană, de la cei marionetă până la cei curajoși care și-au respectat statutul chiar dacă cunoșteau consecințele. Volum se axează pe bătălia pentru Stalingrad și nici nu e de mirare că nemți au pierdut aceea bătălie dat fiind faptul că au gestionat totul dezastruos. O armată prost echipată, flamândă, sătulă de lupte inutile urâtă până și de natură Rusiei nu ar fi putut niciodată ieși învingătoare. Cred că cea mai mare "realizare" naziștilor a fost să se saboteze singuri.

[John Freeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I devoured the Sven Hassel novels when I was in high school, 45 years ago. They made visceral the history of the Second World War and the brutality of the Nazis. Reading SS General again, years later, there is almost a pulp fiction quality to the never-ending, seemingly impossible situations that Sven and his squad of comrades find themselves in. However, many soldiers survived impossible situations. Hassel lets us glimpse those struggles through the eyes of his characters.

[Rupert Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed this book. My main criticism is that was all a bit disjointed. It read as if it were 4 or 5 short stories strung together, with a few stand-alone anecdotes thrown in for good measure - not really a novel as such. All pretty thrilling and interesting but an odd book all round. Still, the action scenes are well handled and the central cast of characters are well drawn and engage the reader's attention very well.

[Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como en la mayoría de los libros de Sven Hassel, me sorprende que se pueda intercalar momentos de gran hilaridad con la crudeza y desesperación de una guerra. En este libro, se describen magníficamente bien las precarias condiciones que tuvieron que soportar los soldados alemanes en el frente más temido de todos: el del este.
En suma, una buena recomendación si te gusta el género bélico o si ya conoces y valoras el autor.

[Jeff Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sven Hassel had to be the finest writer of fictional war books of his generation. SS General followed a similar pattern of his previous novels with the Penal battalion trapped at Stalingrad. The SS General in the story led his men back to the German lines against all odds with the book ending with nasty sting in the tail. A must read for fans of the genre.

[Sandra McCourt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read again. Sven and the boys are downtrodden picking up strays here and there uniforms are falling to bits no boots frozen and starving in Stalingrad this time. The weather relentless as an SS General picks them up and takes them through the country fighting their way to the front. They get lost etc but what’s new it enjoyable to read

[Zenithgeist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sven Hassel'in okudugum ilk kitabi olmasina ragmen, uslubu fazlasiyla akici geldi ve yorulmadan okudum. Alegorik anlatimiyla savastan bahsederken bile yer yer gulumsetti, kendisini ve kitabini bu acidan da oldukca basarili buldum.

[Cody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sven Hassel really captures what it was like as an axis soldier in WW2 with dramatic and grim detail. A lovely read for war fans.

[Mujo Zenicanin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good and very scary book.